At 52, West Bay Opera is the second oldest opera company in the West. Under the leadership of Maestro Jose Luis Moscovich, appointed General Director in July 2006, the company remains true to the ideals of founders Henry and Maria Holt, whose success stemmed from involving opera lovers and volunteers from Palo Alto and the communities of the Peninsula, and focusing West Bay Opera on supporting talented local singers. Indeed, West Bay Opera remains a major Bay Area springboard for singers on their way to professional operatic careers in the U.S. and abroad.
West Bay Opera boasts a professional, tenured orchestra and a high-quality chorus. The company engages high-caliber professional conductors, directors, and set, costume and lighting designers to develop three fully staged opera productions every season, sung in the original languages with English titles. There are free previews at the Palo Alto Art Center and post-show discussion sessions with singers and directors after the first Sunday matinee. All performances take place at the wonderfully intimate Lucie Stern Community Theatre in Palo Alto, a 420 seat theatre in which there are no bad seats, and audiences are swept into the drama by the sheer power and immediacy of the action onstage.
Through its Opera in the Schools program (OITS), West Bay Opera plays a vital role in helping to develop the next generation of opera lovers. Each year, the roving OITS artists visit over 45 schools on the Peninsula to stage abridged versions of operas, giving children of all socioeconomic levels the unforgettable thrill of performing onstage, singing or dancing alongside the pros, and giving rise to many well-documented cases of a life-long love of opera.
To order tickets, please call 650-424-9999 Monday through Friday from 1pm to 5pm, or buy tickets on the Web at www.wbopera.org
